No, Usha Vance didn’t call Kamala Harris a ‘DEI hire’ on X
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Usha Vance, wife of Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, posted on X that Vice President Kamala Harris was “absolutely a DEI hire.”
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We found no credible news reports that Usha Vance, wife of Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, called Vice President Kamala Harris a “DEI hire” in an X post.
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The X account impersonating Usha Vance, which has been suspended, incorrectly said Usha Vance lives in San Diego. Usha was born there, but the Vances now have homes in Cincinnati and Alexandria, Virginia.
Republicans have intensified attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, and focused some on her race and gender. Recently, attorney Usha Vance, wife of Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, appeared to join in the fray.
A July 23 Threads post shared a screenshot of a lengthy X post from an account named “Usha Chilukuri Vance” with the username @ushachilukuri_. (Chilukuri was Usha’s maiden name.)
“You can support Kamala or not based on your personal political views, but she was absolutely a DEI hire,” Vance’s supposed X post read. DEI means diversity, equity and inclusion.
(Screengrab from Threads)
We saw the screengrab shared elsewhere on Threads. These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
PolitiFact contacted J.D. Vance’s spokesperson to verify whether this X account bearing his wife’s name and likeness was authentic, but did not receive a response by publication.
We found no credible news reports that said Usha Vance made this post about Harris.
We also searched for Vance’s social media accounts and found no authentic accounts on X or Instagram. She appears to have real profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn. Those accounts contained no public posts about DEI or Harris.
The X account bearing the name “@ushachilukuri_” has been suspended. But X users shared a screenshot of the account that showed Vance’s location as San Diego, where she was born. But that’s not where Vance is currently based; the Vance family has homes in Cincinnati and Alexandria, Virginia.
The account’s photo was taken from Vance’s profile on the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson’s website, where Vance worked before she resigned July 15 after former President Donald Trump named her husband to the campaign ticket. Vance’s profile has since been removed from the website, but an archived version from June 26 shows the photo.
As women of color, both Vance and Harris have faced race- and gender-based attacks online. Vance is the daughter of Indian immigrants. Harris, born in Oakland, California, is also the daughter of immigrants; her father is from Jamaica and her mother from India.
Some Republicans, including Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, have called Harris a “DEI hire” in recent interviews. If elected president, Harris would be the first multiracial and woman president.
We rate the claim that Usha Vance posted on X that Harris was “absolutely a DEI hire” False.
Threads post (archived version), July 23, 2024
Threads post (archived version), July 23, 2024
X account named Usha Chilukuri Vance, accessed July 24, 2024
X post, July 23, 2024
Munger, Tolles & Olson website, accessed July 24, 2024
Munger, Tolles & Olson, Usha Vance’s archived profile, June 26, 2024
ABC News, “Who is Usha Vance? JD Vance’s wife leaves law firm after Trump VP announcement,” July 15, 2024
ABC News, “JD Vance’s wife faces racist online backlash from far-right social media posts,” July 20, 2024
The Washington Post, “LGBTQ flags and quinoa: The liberal Va. enclave where J.D. Vance lives,” July 16, 2024
NBC News, “‘Dumb’ and a ‘DEI’ candidate: Trump and allies attack Kamala Harris based on her race, gender,” July 24, 2024
PolitiFact, “A look at Kamala Harris’ multi-ethnic background and racial identity in the US,” Aug. 14, 2020
CNN, “A GOP congressman called Kamala Harris a ‘DEI hire.’ Some caution it’s a sign of what’s to come,” July 23, 2024
The Hill, “Another Republican labels Harris ‘DEI hire’,” July 24, 2024
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